I am not sure how I see online education being used in a K-5 setting. I have been struggling to develop my course this week for a group of first graders. It has been nearly impossible to get them to navigate the schoology site with it being so text based. Maybe at 4th and 5th grade if would be a little easier for them but I think anything below 2nd or 3rd grade is really pushing it with this particular product. I do think that the social networking sites, blogging and discussion boards are highly motivating for as young as pre-teens. We have used wikis with a few 4th and 5th grade classes and the students have responded well. Even parents have commented that they were surprised that their child wants to comment on the book he or she is reading because they get to do it on the class wiki. Teachers will need practical staff development that gets them in and doing and working in an online environment before they will see the benefit of it. I think for many teachers it is a stretch to see how this could be of benefit or use. I feel that if we fail to embrace teaching within these environments then we will be doing our students a dis-service. I think the K-3 kiddos can work in an online environment just maybe not Schoology. If we do not incorporate these environments into our teaching then we will not be preparing our students to be successful when they enter the business world. The world is getting smaller and flatter all the time. Students must be familiar with these tools. Roger Dreger 5/8/2010 11:42 AM As an elementary school teacher I agree with you completely. But as I was reading your post and thinking about it I had a thought. The average elementary school teacher is already overwhelmed with the existing technology. Now in addition to all the textbook and activity based lessons we want them to develop online lessons??? That might work for some of the more tech savvy teachers, but I don't know about everyone else.
Many schools have a computer lab with a teacher who facilitates/teaches the students in the lab. What if you had another position at a school site where their job was to facilitate/teach online instruction. That teacher could develop the wikis, documents, webquests, "safe websites", etc for each grade level. They would be the "online resource" for the teachers at that school. I know this is a pipe dream in the current budgetary environment! But it makes sense to have a specialist in this area rather than add it to teachers who already have too much to do and may not have the aptitude, or even desire, to develop online learning for their students. Jamie Gustin 5/8/2010 11:51 AM Susan,
I'll bet using this with your first graders is a real challenge. Designing online courses for primary students is much tougher. There are a couple of things to consider that might help with developing online courses for younger students. The first is the system that you choose. My first attempt at an online course was on a blog. If younger students are using blogs and wikis now, then you can design an online course in one of those environments. The other thing to consider is a blended approach. Your lessons could be done face to face and online. Again, an online environment that supports a more graphical interface would work for the primary students. Sonya Ortiz 5/8/2010 1:18 PM - Edited(5/8/2010 1:23 PM) I am developing my course for my second graders and I share your concern with Schoology's "user friendly" appeal to the primary grades. I think my GT students will do great but I am concerned about my lower students who are at a K-1 reading level. I am going to try to pair them up with a "high" student for support. I am hoping that the motivation for being on the computer will be high enough for my reluctant learners. Technology is a great motivator and all my students have enjoyed working on the reading and intervention programs online that my campus currently use. Perhaps for students struggling with the reading, assignments could be posted using an audio format. I am not sure on how to do this but I definitely want to look into using audio and video formats.
Sandra Villarreal 5/9/2010 5:52 PM Susan,
think you may be right that the schoology format might be too complicated for k-3 students. I agree with you that younger students such as K-3 can create projects online can work in an online courseware system, but it would have to be one that is easier for them to navigate so that when they are older, they will have no problem navigating a more sophisticated online courseware system.
I also think that teaching staff members whom might not be computer literate would also benefit from a similar approach where they use a system that is easier for them to navigate and then advance to more sophisticated products as they gain computer literacy skills and the confidence to use them.
Schoology Course
Discussion
I am not sure how I see online education being used in a K-5 setting. I have been struggling to develop my course this week for a group of first graders. It has been nearly impossible to get them to navigate the schoology site with it being so text based. Maybe at 4th and 5th grade if would be a little easier for them but I think anything below 2nd or 3rd grade is really pushing it with this particular product. I do think that the social networking sites, blogging and discussion boards are highly motivating for as young as pre-teens. We have used wikis with a few 4th and 5th grade classes and the students have responded well. Even parents have commented that they were surprised that their child wants to comment on the book he or she is reading because they get to do it on the class wiki. Teachers will need practical staff development that gets them in and doing and working in an online environment before they will see the benefit of it. I think for many teachers it is a stretch to see how this could be of benefit or use. I feel that if we fail to embrace teaching within these environments then we will be doing our students a dis-service. I think the K-3 kiddos can work in an online environment just maybe not Schoology. If we do not incorporate these environments into our teaching then we will not be preparing our students to be successful when they enter the business world. The world is getting smaller and flatter all the time. Students must be familiar with these tools.
Roger Dreger
5/8/2010 11:42 AM
As an elementary school teacher I agree with you completely. But as I was reading your post and thinking about it I had a thought. The average elementary school teacher is already overwhelmed with the existing technology. Now in addition to all the textbook and activity based lessons we want them to develop online lessons??? That might work for some of the more tech savvy teachers, but I don't know about everyone else.
Many schools have a computer lab with a teacher who facilitates/teaches the students in the lab. What if you had another position at a school site where their job was to facilitate/teach online instruction. That teacher could develop the wikis, documents, webquests, "safe websites", etc for each grade level. They would be the "online resource" for the teachers at that school. I know this is a pipe dream in the current budgetary environment! But it makes sense to have a specialist in this area rather than add it to teachers who already have too much to do and may not have the aptitude, or even desire, to develop online learning for their students.
Jamie Gustin
5/8/2010 11:51 AM
Susan,
I'll bet using this with your first graders is a real challenge. Designing online courses for primary students is much tougher. There are a couple of things to consider that might help with developing online courses for younger students. The first is the system that you choose. My first attempt at an online course was on a blog. If younger students are using blogs and wikis now, then you can design an online course in one of those environments. The other thing to consider is a blended approach. Your lessons could be done face to face and online. Again, an online environment that supports a more graphical interface would work for the primary students.
Sonya Ortiz
5/8/2010 1:18 PM - Edited(5/8/2010 1:23 PM)
I am developing my course for my second graders and I share your concern with Schoology's "user friendly" appeal to the primary grades. I think my GT students will do great but I am concerned about my lower students who are at a K-1 reading level. I am going to try to pair them up with a "high" student for support. I am hoping that the motivation for being on the computer will be high enough for my reluctant learners. Technology is a great motivator and all my students have enjoyed working on the reading and intervention programs online that my campus currently use. Perhaps for students struggling with the reading, assignments could be posted using an audio format. I am not sure on how to do this but I definitely want to look into using audio and video formats.
Sandra Villarreal
5/9/2010 5:52 PM
Susan,
think you may be right that the schoology format might be too complicated for k-3 students. I agree with you that younger students such as K-3 can create projects online can work in an online courseware system, but it would have to be one that is easier for them to navigate so that when they are older, they will have no problem navigating a more sophisticated online courseware system.
I also think that teaching staff members whom might not be computer literate would also benefit from a similar approach where they use a system that is easier for them to navigate and then advance to more sophisticated products as they gain computer literacy skills and the confidence to use them.
Thanks,
Sandra